The gulf fritillaries are back!
It's been at least a year since I observed any gulf fritillary butterflies Agraulis vanillae in the area. Walking around the garden on...
So much bird activity in the garden
This weekend there were so many birds around the garden, and especially in the early afternoon there is so much singing, chirping, and...
California towhee fledgling
I observed this California towhee fledgling sunning itself on the backyard fence today. You can tell with its still fluffy feathers that...
Our friends the leaf cutter bees, again
These days I just see a lot of leaf cutter bees in the backyard, enjoying the cosmos flowers. In the image above a leaf cutter bee is...
Tomato plant growing among the fava beans
Ha ha ha! Look what's growing right in the middle of the fava bean plants - a healthy tomato plant. It could be from a seed that was...
Ensuring continuous food sources for the pollinators
Sweat bee on a Klondike sulphur orange cosmos blossom Planting native plants in pots in our backyard really is a great example of "if you...
The leaf cutter bees
As I wrote in a post earlier this week, prior to this week, I have never seen so many leaf cutter bees feeding on nectar and collecting...
monarchs are now in chrysalis mode
Just as I thought, the monarch caterpillars were already in their 5th instar when I discovered them last weekend on the milkweed plant....
busy bees in the backyard
Now that the cosmos flowers are blooming, along with a new bloom of the lavender plants, the backyard literally is abuzz with activity....
monarch caterpillars in the backyard!
Two months ago I purchased a small narrow leaf milkweed plant from Annies Annuals https://www.anniesannuals.com/ Every year for the past...
